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As long as pearl jewelry have been known to people, they have been a highly sought commodity for their beauty. It's only in recent times however that the industry has taken the hunt for the perfect pearl to a whole different level. Today, the shiny orbs that we see on in display in jewelry stores have actually almost always been grown in farms.
That's a far cry from the dangerous extraction and collection methods used before the invention of modern technology. In the past, not more than 100 years ago, the only way to retrieve pearls was by diving in lakes, floods and the ocean to pick them up, one at the time. The unfortunate divers who'se job it was to do this, were often poor and lured by the relative large sums they could get. The diver would sometimes have to dive as deep as 100 feet on one single breath of air. In order to preserve air and to stay submerged the longest, the divers would hold on to heavy stones on the way down.
Naturally, this dangerous activity was reserved for the desperate or the powerless - in many cases slaves or extremely poor peasents. Today, this method is all but obsolete in most places of the world. The cheaper cultured pearls have become popular and are many times the only pearls available to the consumer.
There are however still a few isolated areas that practice this old art of pearl diving. Some of the finest natural pearl speciments come from the gulf of Bahrain. Here, divers still risk their health to retrieve what are considered the top of the crop in the world. In fact, Bahrain wants no part of the sale of cultured pearls, banned from trade. Bahrain is one of the few places on earth that does an active job in trying to preserve the natural habitat and waters from pollution.
It's an interesting story and one that continues to fascinate buyers around the world. Somehow, the beauty of the pearl grows when it's been retrieved from the depth of the ocean.
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Buying pearl jewelry can be fun, exciting and confusing. Whether you're considering a gift of pearl jewelry for someone special or as a treat for yourself, take some time to learn the terms used in the industry. Here's some information to help you get the best quality pearl jewelry for your money, whether you're shopping in a traditional brick and mortar store or online.
Pearls
Natural or real pearls are made by oysters and other mollusks. Cultured pearls also are grown by mollusks, but with human intervention; that is, an irritant introduced into the shells causes a pearl to grow. Imitation pearls are man-made with glass, plastic, or organic materials.
Because natural pearls are very rare, most pearls used in jewelry are either cultured or imitation pearls. Cultured pearls, because they are made by oysters or mollusks, usually are more expensive than imitation pears. A cultured pearl's value is largely based on its size, usually stated in millimeters, and the quality of its nacre coating, which give it luster. Jewelers should tell your if the pearls are cultured or imitation. Some black, bronze, gold, purple, blue and orange pearls, whether natural or cultured, occur that way in nature; some, however, are dyed through various processes. Jewelers should tell you whether the colored pearls are naturally colored, dyed or irradiated.
Clams, oysters, mussels and many other mollusks with limy shells are known to produce pearls. But very few kinds yield gem pearls of jeweler's quality. The pearl is an abnormal growth of mother-of-pearl, or nacre, imbedded in the soft bodies of these shellfish. It is built up, layer upon layer, in the same way as nacre is added to the lining of the growing shell and always has the same color and luster. For example, over the country, hundreds of good-sized pearls are found each year in the oysters we eat. Unfortunately these have no commercial value regardless of whether they have been cooked or not because they are dull opaque white or purple like the shell of the parent oyster. In recent times almost all pearls of gem quality come from the oriental pearl oyster which has a bright shimmering translucent nacre.
A pearl starts growing when some irritating foreign substance such as a sand grain, bit of mud, parasite or other object becomes lodged in the shell-producing gland called the mantle. Pearls formed in the soft flesh where nacre can be added on all sides are most likely to be spherical and the most highly prized. By far the great majority are flattened or variously distorted and have little value. Size, color, luster and freedom from flaws are other essential qualities. Unlike other gems, such as diamonds, pearls have an average life of only about 50 years. In time the small amount of water in a pearl's make-up is lost and its surface cracks. Because they are mostly lime, necklaces which are worn often are injured by the acid secretions of the human skin.
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The service has a fun name – SpoofCard – but it can land its users in hot water if they employ it for purposes that aren't funny. New Yorker Ali Wise appeared in court in New York City this week on charges stemming from alleged misuse of the SpoofCard service may be the latest case in point. Ms. Wise, a former publicity director for fashion house Dolce & Gabbana, is alleged to have used the service to invade and tamper with the phone accounts of four women who dated her ex-boyfriends. What's a SpoofCard, anyway? It's not really a card, but more of a pearl jewelry service. Among other things, it allows you to change the phone number that shows up on someone else's caller ID to be whatever you want it to be. In that way, you can represent yourself to a friend as someone you are not – and pull off a clever practical joke. You can place calls directly from the SpoofCard website, or you can download an application for your cell phone. In a SpoofCard use that may be more sinister, however, people can change the caller ID number to match the number they're calling. On some phones, that is enough to be granted access to that number's voicemail. This is what Wise is alleged to have done. Prosecutors say she checked and even deleted voicemails from the accounts of four women, rivals for the affections of Wise's former boyfriends. She is charged with four counts each of computer trespassing, eavesdropping, computer tampering, and aggravated harassment, plus one count of stalking, according to the New York Post. How do most people use SpoofCard? According to testimonials on the biwa pearl SpoofCard website, not-so-nice practical jokes are popular. Most stories aren't G-rated, so we won't reprint them here, but here's one of the less-harmful spoofs: "Telling my friend who is a licensed plumber that his license has been revoked due to unethical practices. It drove him nuts.... it was [sic] hillarious." The service also includes a voice-distorter that can disguise the caller's identity or even change the tone of one's voice enough to sound like a different gender. (Imagine the fun guys are having calling their buddies as women.) SpoofCard can also be used to record phone calls. Is it legal? Prosecutors in the Wise case seemed to think not, at least not the way she used it. The company says this on its website: "Each of the capabilities of SpoofCard is legal in the US. However, certain uses may be illegal depending on which state you are calling from or to. For example, a handful of states have passed laws that make it illegal to spoof caller ID for certain purposes, such as 'to mislead, defraud or deceive the recipient of a telephone call.' Before using the spoofing capability of SpoofCard, you should determine whether the use you will make of the service is legal in the state where you are calling from and the state where the party you are calling is located. "In addition, it is illegal under the law of numerous states to record a telephone call without informing the other party that the call is being recorded. Before using the recording capability of SpoofCard, you should determine whether it is legal in the state where you are calling from and the state where the party you are calling is located to record the call without informing the called party. If you do not know whether such recording is legal in both states, you should protect yourself from possible state criminal prosecution by informing the other party that you are recording the conversation. SpoofCard cannot monitor conversations to determine whether they are being legally spoofed or recorded. SpoofCard disclaims any and all liability or responsibility for your use of the akoya pearl Card's spoofing or recording capability." These cautionary notes apparently aren't deterring people from using SpoofCard. The company reports that its iPhone application has been downloaded more than 30,000 times. (It has similar products for Blackberry and Android mobile phones.) While the applications are free to download, calls cost $4.95 for 25 minutes in the US.
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On Monday, the Standish City Council passed a unanimous resolution expressing interest in having a federal prison at the Standish Max Correctional facility, slated to close Oct. 31 due to budget cuts. But the resolution stripped out all reference to the detainees currently being housed at the US base in Cuba. While some reports have interpreted the change in language to mean that the welcome mat has been officially yanked, the community 120 miles north of Detroit is not ruling out taking the more than 200 detainees, says Ruth Caldwell, vice president of the pearl jewelry Standish Chamber of Commerce. "[The City Council] watered it down a little because a few people don't want it and have been very vocal, but they did pass it last night," says Ms. Caldwell, who owns Pleasantries gift boutique. And the motion "states we're in favor of a federal option." President Obama has said he wants to close the facility at Guant¨¢namo by year's end. The prison at Standish, which can hold about 600 inmates, is reported to be one option the federal government is considering. Another is Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, home of the military's only maximum-security prison. Arenac County, where Standish is located, passed a resolution that supported housing the detainees last week. Arenac County Commissioner Mike Snyder says he has been assured that Standish's door is still open. "The whole point of [the wording change] was to remove the detainee language and replace it with 'federal prisoners.' Did the change in biwa pearl fact exclude Guant¨¢namo detainees? The mayor says it does not," says Mr. Snyder. Opposition to the plan includes The Coalition to Stop Gitmo North and Republican Rep. Pete Hoekstra, who is believed to be a contender for the 2010 Michigan gubernatorial race. Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D) has also expressed concerns about bringing the detainees to Michigan. On Tuesday, the Coalition launched a move to recall the Standish City Council, three of whom are already at the end of their terms, Commissioner Snyder says. "My extreme concern is about the hatemongering and mistruths and lack of information" on the part of the Coalition, says Snyder. Until the government makes a decision, "we're dealing with wild speculation that's hurting everyone. It's incredibly detrimental to a real understanding of what's going on." Ms. Caldwell says her own stance is unchanged: "We need to have something here." The city must repay bonds taken out when the prison was built in 1990, and one-quarter of its budget ($36,000 a month) comes from the prison's water and sewer bill. Pennsylvania is reportedly also considering the site to help ease overcrowding at akoya pearl its prisons. But with less than two weeks until the prison closes, Standish is running out of options to replace its largest employer. On Thursday, 100 employees at Standish Max and Camp Lehman in Grayling received notice of layoffs, and others received transfer notices. Ultimately, Caldwell points out, the city itself has little say in the future of the prison. "It really doesn't matter: If the federal government wants it here, it will be here."
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The US Supreme Court has let stand a ruling in Virginia that police officers must personally observe erratic driving before stopping a suspected drunken driver. On Tuesday, the high court declined to take up an appeal involving a Richmond motorist who was pulled over by a police officer based on an anonymous tip that he was driving under the influence of alcohol. The issue in the case, Virginia v. Harris, was whether the officer was justified in confronting the driver with a roadside sobriety test, or whether he should have waited until Harris' driving gave rise to a reasonable suspicion of drunk driving independent of the anonymous tip. The case stems from a pearl jewelry December 2005 telephone call received by police. The caller said that an intoxicated driver named Joseph Harris was driving an Altima, southbound on Meadowbridge Road in Richmond. The caller gave a partial license plate number. Officer Claude Picard of the Richmond Police Department soon located an Altima being driven by a man with a license plate similar to the number offered by the caller. The officer followed Mr. Harris and watched as the motorist slowed down before crossing an intersection where he had the right of way, and slowed down again 50 feet before reaching a red stop light. At other times the car was traveling at the stipulated speed limit of 25 mph. Once through the intersection, Harris pulled his car over to the shoulder and stopped. Officer Picard pulled up behind Harris and activated his lights and siren. The officer detected a strong odor of alcohol on Harris' breath and noticed that his speech was slurred. Picard administered a field sobriety test. Harris failed. He was charged with operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated. Harris had been convicted of the same offense twice before. At trial, Harris' lawyer argued that the charge should be dropped because the police officer lacked the level of reasonable suspicion needed to biwa pearl justify the traffic stop. The trial court rejected the argument and Harris was convicted and sentenced to serve 90 days in prison. A state appeals court affirmed the decision. The Virginia Supreme Court voted 4-3 to throw out the conviction. The state high court said the anonymous tip did not provide enough evidence of criminal wrongdoing to overcome Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures. The police officer must personally observe criminal activity before an investigative stop is justified, the Virginia court ruled. The Virginia attorney general's office appealed the decision to the US Supreme Court, urging the high court to overturn the opinion and make clear that in cases involving suspected drunk drivers, police officers are justified in conducting a brief traffic stop. The Supreme Court turned down the appeal without comment. Chief Justice John Roberts filed a dissent, joined by Justice Antonin Scalia. Chief Justice Roberts said a sharp disagreement had emerged in federal and state courts over this particular Fourth Amendment issue. Most courts have upheld the police stop, but some have ruled for the motorist. "The conflict is clear and the stakes are high," he wrote. "The effect of the rule below will be to akoya pearl grant drunk drivers 'one free swerve' before they can legally be pulled over by police," Roberts said. "It will be difficult for an officer to explain to the family of a motorist killed by that swerve that the police had a tip that the driver of the other car was drunk, but that they were powerless to pull him over, even for a quick check."
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